Quote of The Day

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Sneak Peek Paint Party Friday


A sneak peek at the Charity piano I'm working on. It's a lot more work
 than expected but I am really enjoying it and there are still lots of mistakes to fix.! I'm on a bit of a time crunch so it's all I've had time for this week. Here are a couple of sides, 
and a few digital colour edits just for fun!
When Cupcake was little I hate to admit Christmas was overly abundant. 
Let's face it, my kid got WAY too much!! I was able to keep Santa a secret 
for several years! However Santa only gave her one unwrapped
 gift and a stocking!
 Working a full time, shopping after work, baking and wrapping presents until the wee hours is quite a feat for any woman! No way should Santa take the credit for all that!!  I wanted my child to appreciate where things came from. A jolly fictitious character was no measure for
all that mom did!
  I  worried less fortunate children would feel inferior if my child was
 gifted more from Santa than they were! I figured one gift 
was a safe bet.
One year I fooled Cupcake by duplicating a gift in her stocking and wrapping the other
for under the tree.  Then I told her that Santa and I got our wires 
crossed!! I hid her gifts in plain sight, places she walked past daily.
 I told her the gifts were stored at a friends house!
 Not once did she find them early.
I don' believe in lying to children, and promised her I'd only tell fibs 
 during the holidays so I could surprise her! To this day she hates 
surprises, but it's not because of those wonderful Christmases 
we enjoyed when she was a child.
Together every October we'd purged her bedroom 
donating to charity, making space for new things. 
Last night we went through a lot of my old nick knacks
and donated them to charity today! Funny how the tables turn!
One year Cupcake wanted a crawling doll for Christmas, she got it from Santa
but was so disappointed at how hard the doll was. After that
she inspected all the toys at the store  before any purchases were made!
And an advertizing skeptic was born!
Cupcake remembers those 
Christmases with such fondness as do I!
If I had it to do all over again I'd have bought way less!
Now as an adult Cupcake makes sure to buy well 
thought out really special things for her nieces and 
nephews as well as less fortunate children of single moms! 
Some of my favorite memories were attending Christmas eve church services.
Watching children's Christmas concerts, singing Christmas Carols
in our old neighbourhood and baking for friends!
I also loved having our dear friends over for Christmas eve card 
games and seasonal visits with friends. 
Christmases are different now but enjoyable just the same!
What are some of your favorite holiday memories?
A few weeks back my blogger friend Sharon emailed this Character she made
for me!! I love it! Thank you Sharon for your lovely friendship! 
You can find Sharon's blog at Sharon Art Inspiration.

25 comments:

Marji said...

The piano is amazing and wow, a lot of work. That's a huge surface to cover. It looks beautiful!

froebelsternchen said...

Great project! Wow!
Happy PPF!

sharon said...

That piano is amazing! Must be awkward to paint! Our Christmases meant the beach, we had a bach (holiday shack) where the extended family stayed, all the kids sleeping on the floor, tents up in the garden and sleeping on the beach and great bonfires eating shellfish we gathered. We had a rule only one gift the parents as there varying levels of income. If children were to receive more it was given after the New Year.

Valerie-Jael said...

Oooh, I LOVE that piano, what a wonderful project. Love Sharon's painting, too, she has such talent. All in all, a most enjoyable post! Hugs, Valerie

Unknown said...

LOVE!!!! That would make anyone want to dance and sing. Very inspirational.

coco.nut said...

the piano will be vivid and joyful, as all your work is, you can already see it! thanks for sharing Christmas story! happy PPF!

My name is Erika. said...

Someone or or some place is going to be very lucky to have that piano. Very cool.

Carol Rigby said...

Wow! Great work

Christine said...

That piano is looking great in classic Giggles style. Yes, it is a wonderful if busy time of year! Lovely gift from Sharon!

Unknown said...

Such great colors on the piano!!! And beautiful memories. I love making those memories with my little family and look forward to new ones now that we have a son in law!
xo

Faye said...

Sherrie, the piano is amazing. What a beautiful thing that will be when completed! Your description of giving at Christmas is a description of what a caring person you are. On the anniversary (1 yr.) of my dh's death, I wore the lovely angel pendant you sent me a year ago and remembered how kind a person you are. Thanks for being so generous to a fellow artist/stranger. As for Christmas memories, we usually got one toy, some underwear, and a stocking with oranges, apples and raisins. Things have changed.

Linda Kunsman said...

wow Sherrie-that is one very special piano- LOVE it!! You may have begun a new ongoing venture here:):) Sharon created a perfect painting for you-beautiful. Growing up and even up to now Christmases at my parents place was a big mix of fun but also chaos and fights . I try to remember the better moments. It is Christmas with my friends, hubby and son that I cherish the most, along with a quiet Christmas eve going to church and then opening gifts with my Mom-before the Christmas day zoo opens up:):)

Sirkka said...

Wow, great, nice piano and great posting. Happy PPF!

Ginny said...

I love the piano Giggles. It so colorful and happy. Christmas was not my husband's favorite holiday but he did love finding and wrapping the perfect gift for everyone. Then he would leave gifts all through the house and you would have to go on a scavenger hunt to find what you knew would be a great present. At the time I did not always appreciate the hunt, but now it is a great memory.

Ariel said...

The work on the piano is coming out beautiful.
Last year our children and their friends sacrificed their gifts and donated that money for the less fortunate kids. We were so proud of what they did.
Have a lovely weekend
Susan

Carol said...

That piano certainly has the "WOW" factor going for it !!! LOVE IT ♥♥♥♥♥ I've been cluttering too .... the hubs jokingly said we didn't have any room for Christmas presents this year so we were canceling it. I decided he was right and we do just have too much stuff setting around. I mean where am I going to put all of this new art I'm creating if I don't get rid of some things :)

Jo said...

Wow!! The piano is awesome!! You have made rethink my old, mahogany upright. What will you do with it?

Paper rainbow said...

Your piano is looking fantastic. What an explosion of colour! Christmas is about the simple things too much has been overblown.. I loved reading the story of your Christmas philosophy and agree wholeheartedly. You are a Fab mum and cupcake is a lucky girl x

kat said...

What a happy and jolly piano that will be, great work!
My favourite Christmas memories are all the lovely stories I loved to read my boys when they were smaller, Lulu will be next to have these (lucky me), putting up the decorations and all the excitement with the children, putting chocolates on the tree throughout December (supposedly from the fairies), all the Santa and magic fun, writing letters from Santa. The boys used to get so excited when they received a magic letter, they believed until late, I tried to keep the magic for as long as possible.
I love the Christmas concerts in the church at this time and all the twinkly lights, family gatherings...so many lovely memories.

denthe said...

Oh Sherrie, that piano is going to look a-ma-zing! Can't wait to see it finished! I love how Santa only gave one present every year, such a great idea! I also think back with fondness to the Christmases we spent together with the whole family. Going to night mass, singing Christmascarols and playing board games. I loved it! We still have Christmasparties every year, but the family has grown so much with all the nieces and nephews that it isn't a small intimate feast anymore. Still love it though ....

Abigail Davidson said...

Oh how cute! The flower pattern is really pretty. Looking forward to seeing more of the piano--it looks darling!

sheila 77 said...

What an amazing piano this is going to be, I really can't imagine just how you are doing it, looks like an awkward task and it is looking so good.
I enjoyed reading of your Christmases.

Gloria j Zucaro said...

You are such a clever woman! Clever about over abundance and surprises and truthfulness. The piano is terrific!
Have a great week. Happy Thanksgiving.

JKW said...

I love the look of the piano. We use to put someone for the kids to do in their stocking so 'we' would have to get up so early. . . it was early enough, but who knows what happens in the middle of the night with presents. Blessings, Janet PPF

pauline said...

My dear girl... is this an actual PIANO?! What funky flowers! i love it. Love your energy. It always shows in your words & your art. Ah, Christmas. I have wonderful memories and we try to create the same warm memories for our son (who is no longer a child, but STILL - you know how it is!) I love it. But (like you), Christmas has never been all about gifts. It's been more about family & friends & eating & drinking & being merry. ;-) Thanks for sharing this! xx

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...